Jan Lisiecki

Latest Reviews

A musician of unusual refinement and imagination, Lisiecki eschews the razzle-dazzle of the barnstorming virtuoso for a more soft-spoken brand of pianism. His account of the Études is distinguished by a prevailing lyricism, and also by an intelligent understanding of the individual textures of each study. The famous “Black Key” étude (Op. 10, No. 5) sparkles in its dizzying right-hand arabesques ...

The Boston Globe, Aug 2013

... Where one might expect a youthful exuberance, a delight at taking the most formidable passages at breakneck speed, Lisiecki goes to the opposite extreme, emphasising the poetic and the tender. Even the Revolutionary (Op10, No.12) - a pianist's chance to unleash - is relatively restrained ... Lisiecki's special contribution is the way he balances and brings out the inner voices ...
His rubato, the rhythmic slowing of the pulse that is so critical in Chopin, is delicately judged and never overstated. His astonishing control allows the music to cascade in a sublime flow.
Most impressively, and maturely for an 18-year-old, he never falls into the trap of sentimentalising Chopin.

Barney Zwartz smh.com.au, Aug 2013

Jan Lisiecki Wins 2013 Leonard Bernstein Award

The Deutsche Grammophon exclusive recording artist Jan Lisiecki received the prestigious Leonard Bernstein Award for 2013 at a ceremony held 16 August in Lübeck, Germany during the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. The Bernstein Award is given to young musicians for outstanding achievements in classical music and chosen by an illustrious international jury.

On hand to present the award to the 18-year-old Canadian pianist were jury members Rolf Beck, Director of the festival, and Leonard Bernstein’s children, Jamie Bernstein Thomas and Alexander Bernstein. “I think my father would have loved the way you interpret Mozart with such deep feeling,” said Bernstein’s daughter Jamie at the awards presentation. Lisiecki performed Mozart’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in D minor with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra under the direction of Lawrence Foster at the awards ceremony. The concerto is one of two Mozart pieces on his first DG release.

At the age of just 16 Jan Lisiecki was signed to the Yellow Label. Earlier this year DG released his second CD, Chopin Études: “Exactly one month after his 18th birthday, Calgary-born pianist Jan Lisiecki boldly declares his membership in the company of grown-up artists with this excellent recording . . . all 24 Études have emerged elegantly formed, ready for prime time. Particularly powerfully rendered by Lisiecki are the later, Op. 25 Études, to which he gives goosebump-inducing dramatic depth. What a way to turn 18.” – Toronto Star, April 2013